Freestyle. Improv. Hip-hop. Comedy.
On their own, these four words are full of production, promise and possibility. Meld the four words together until they become one, then you’re in for a treat—and a jam-packed performance from Freestyle Love Supreme.
On any given day, a group of performers hit the stage with minimal inclination as to what will happen next. For 90 minutes, FLS is at the mercy of its audience, fielding suggestions from guests while creating an experience that’s unique to each night’s audience.
An extension of this unpredictable nature of the show is the fact that guests don’t know which performers will deliver the eclectic mix of freestyle, improv, hip hop and comedy. If they’re lucky, when the lights go up and the music sounds, artist Jay C. Ellis will be included in the number to take the stage.
A member and advocate of the LGBTQ+ community, the actor, singer and rapper brings his full self to the stage. He also brings a contagious sense of excitement, which the audience undoubtedly catches along with his sense of passion, fun and joy.
“More than anything, I hope they see me,” Jay told THE BLOCK. “I hope they see a Black American male, a male who was cultured and raised in this system that is not designed for me to succeed, a male who did not receive the privilege that many of our patrons feel and have had their whole lives and an experience that is totally different from the gaze that they’ve been focused.”
For Jay, it’s more than a performance, it’s a shared experience that sets the atmosphere for a greater impact. Each stage in a new city presents an opportunity for him to learn from others.
I’m learning from those experiences and trying to create a better conglomerate of humanity. I truly hope that our audiences are listening and learning from the different experiences being shared on that stage, mine or anyone else’s who is sharing from their heart and from their soul.
Jay C. Ellis
Like Jay, his counterparts show up prepared to use art to tell their stories authentically and with an air of vulnerability. Almost immediately the sense of community and the created safe space among the group is recognizable.
“The community is genderless, is sexless, is raceless, is ageless,” he explained. “It’s just a place for people to come and connect in pure artistry, but it holds the space that the Black and brown folks who created this art form intentionally designed it for and recognizes its roots in the Black community.”
I believe that what we do truly holds the space of those original artists and the truth of the artform.
JAY C. ELLIS
While academia and sports were of interest at a young age, the Ohio native’s first time freestyling happened at a lunch table in high school. It was his college experience that highlighted an issue and presented an opportunity for him to change the narrative.
“[College was] when I first realized there is a disparity in the arts,” he told us. “There’s a disparity in what’s being exposed to brown and Black kids and what is being marketed and presented to people in that community. It’s not for lack of love, it’s for lack of knowledge.”
Well before FLS, Jay’s goal was to help create artistic work that not only welcomed people who looked like him but put those voices at the forefront, he added. He’s able to accomplish this goal through his personal work and his work with Freestyle Love Supreme Academy. Offstage, he’s passionate about entering communities and finding new communities.
From Black female and Black voices to Latinx and trans voices, Jay’s goal is to find people who have not been able to traditionally express themselves in the forefront, help cultivate those voices and push them to the front.
“Currently, we’re doing that through freestyle rapping improvisation, but my goals expand much, much further,” he explained. “I’d love to get into a place of helping people produce and create their artwork mainstream, put things on stages and platforms.”
“My new focus is to delve deeper into those artistic adventures and find out how I can help people pursue their artistry to the next level,” he added.
Beyond FLS, FLS Academy and his work in the communities, Jay’s perfecting his craft and furthering opportunities for others through various projects. Recently, he created and directed “BARS,” an improvised hip-hop musical, which was produced by Playhouse Square and Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory. It was the first time a producer or a program took a chance on putting his personal work on a mainstream platform.
A strong support system set the foundation for Jay and became the precipice for his ‘why,’ which intensifies daily.
“I believe it is my reciprocity,” he said. “My parents worked hard, but we didn’t have much, but what they did give me is immeasurable with wealth. Because I was given that, I’ve been taught and instilled by my parents that it is my duty to spread that and to give that back. And, I think that’s how we keep a beautiful, loving world.”
If you want to catch FLS on stage, the group will be in San Diego until July 11 and in Los Angeles from July 11 through August 23. To connect with Jay, follow him on Instagram and visit his website.
*Featured image courtesy of Tim Try Photography.
